


Distractions on the Quest

by missauburnleaf



Series: Tales from Middle Earth [9]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dwarf Culture & Customs, F/M, Female Bilbo Baggins, Female Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Fix-It, Hobbit Culture & Customs, Jealousy, Quest of Erebor, Unrequited Love, Unrequited Lust
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:27:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22615585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missauburnleaf/pseuds/missauburnleaf
Summary: When Dwalin arrived at the round, green door in the settlement of Hobbiton in this strange land, called the Shire, he was skeptical... A pretty, little lass with wild, golden-brown curls and big green eyes looked up at him, wearing nothing but a hideous over-sized patchwork dressing gown, consisting of different colours and fabrics, over a white, very thin and thus revealing, nightshirt...
Relationships: Balin & Dwalin (Tolkien), Bilbo Baggins & Thorin's Company, Bilbo Baggins/Bofur, Bilbo Baggins/Dwalin, Bilbo Baggins/Fíli/Kíli, Bilbo Baggins/Nori, Bilbo Baggins/Ori, Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Bofur & Nori (Tolkien), Dwalin & Thorin Oakenshield, Dís & Thorin Oakenshield, Dís/Dwalin (Tolkien)
Series: Tales from Middle Earth [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890574
Comments: 35
Kudos: 234





	1. Dwalin

**Author's Note:**

> Thorin's point of view.

When Dwalin arrived at the round, green door in the settlement of Hobbiton in this strange land, called the Shire, he was skeptical, not understanding how any of these small, round and cowardly hobbits could be of service to his King and their cause.

But he trusted Thorin, who in turn trusted Tharkûn, so he just rang the bell and waited.

However, when the door was opened, he started to doubt his distant cousin and the crazy wizard: A pretty, little lass with wild, golden-brown curls and big hazel eyes looked up at him, wearing nothing but a hideous over-sized patchwork dressing gown, consisting of different colours and fabrics, over a white, very thin and thus revealing, nightshirt.

Apparently she was as surprised as he was.

“Dwalin, at your service,” he introduced himself, remembering his manners, bowing slightly.

The lass cleared her throat before righting her dressing-gown which had almost been slipping off her right shoulder.

“Bilbo Baggins, at yours,” she answered.

So that was the hobbit… Well, Dwalin had hoped that she was simply their burglar’s sister, wife or daughter, but no, apparently Gandalf had chosen a wee lass for the job.

Even more sceptical than before, Dwalin strode in.

“Erm, excuse me, do we know each other?”, she asked in a husky yet melodic voice, which reminded him of Dís, Thorin’s younger sister.

“No,”, he replied, his voice rising at the end, which made it rather sound like a question, frowning at her, before scanning the room for the promised food.

“So where is it, lassie? Is it down here?”, he wanted to know, stepping deeper into the strange home, which rather looked like a burrow.

“Is what here?”, she asked confused, closing the door and following him.

“Food. He said there would be food. And lots of it!”, Dwalin stated the obvious. Was she dumb? He knew that his brother and even Dís thought he was not the brightest bulb in the box, yet this pretty little thing seemed to be even dumber than him. Surely she would remember that she was the host for their party tonight?

“He said? Who said?”, she whispered, more to herself than directing a question at him.

Following the delicious aroma of fried fish and potatoes, Dwalin finally found the kitchen, where the table was set for one person, a plate with food already waiting for him. Maybe the wee lass wasn’t as dumb as he thought and he had just overwhelmed her with his appearance; he knew he could be intimidating at times, being even taller than Thorin (who was already tall for a dwarf), covered in tattoos and wearing all this leather and fur.

And when Dwalin tasted the food, he was surprised how good it was, reminding him of the homecooked meals he was provided with by Dís in their small dwelling in Thorin’s Halls in Ered Luin.

Yet there was something missing: a second helping. Apparently, the pretty little thing didn’t know about the appetites of dwarrow!

Well, at least she offered him some scones for dessert when the doorbell rang again.

Since she didn’t move, he reminded her, “That’d be the door.”

Sighing, the lass left the kitchen.

After devouring her scones, Dwalin was still hungry, and when his hostess didn’t return in time, he wandered off, deciding to inspect the rest of this burrow.

By accident, he must have stumbled into her living area and to his joy, there was a jar full of cookies on her mantlepiece.

But when Dwalin tried to get some cookies out, he found this to be an impossible task because his hand was too big to reach inside.

And to make matters worse, his older brother sauntered into the room while his own hand was still in the cookie jar.

“Evening, brother,” white-haired and -bearded Balin simply said, smiling brightly.

It had been quite a while that Dwalin had seen his big brother who was definitely shorter and wider than him; Dwalin had been working as a sellsword for the last couple of months, only sporadically returning home whereas his brother had been away on different diplomatic missions.

However, he was happy to see Balin again and they greeted each other with a thorough headbutt – which made their hostess wince.

She really seemed to be too gentle for her own good…

Of course, she didn’t have time to offer Dwalin’s brother any food because the doorbell kept ringing again, so she just dashed out of the living room while Dwalin and Balin found the pantry and put together a decent meal for their kith and kin.

When the wee lass came back, she was accompanied by two of the youngest members of their company, Dís’ beautiful sons, Fíli and Kíli.

It always pained Dwalin to see the lads because the older one, blond-locked Fíli, resembled his dead uncle Frerin so much, Thorin’s younger and Dís’ older brother, and his conception had caused Dís so much distress and humiliation… Kíli, however, shared features with both Dís and Thorin. And so, for obvious reasons other than that, Dwalin had a soft spot for dark-haired Kíli…

They were a merry gathering - Dori, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Óin, Glóin, Fíli, Kíli, Balin und he himself - despite the fact that their hostess did not approve of their manners. Well, Dwalin hoped that she would never meet Dís or the two females would definitely conspire against the menfolk.

And then, finally, Thorin arrived, late as always because there was so much on his plate and he always took it upon himself to solve all the problems of their folk.

Yet Dwalin didn’t think he would experience this kind of jealousy when the wee lass and his King locked eyes; Thorin was obviously attracted to her and she was quite smitten with him in return.

However, leave it to Thorin to ruin a romantically tensed situation by making fun of their hostess and Dwalin got his hopes up.

The pretty little thing Gandalf had chosen to be their burglar was easy on the eyes and evoked in Dwalin the wish to protect her at all costs since she was so small and delicate!

Briefly, he remembered Dís and their last night together – the night when she had marked him with her name, imprinted forever in blue ink over his heart – but he also remembered her words: that she did not expect him to stay celibate on this quest, that he was allowed to stray.

At first, he had snorted at this statement, not believing that there would ever be any other female holding his heart, but now he was not so sure…

This wee lass, this Miss Bilbo Baggins, was to some extent completely different from Dís and yet she reminded him of her...


	2. Thorin

Thorin was frustrated.

First, he had been told by Daín, his direct cousin, that he would not support Thorin’s quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Second, he had had difficulties to find the blasted location Gandalf had chosen as their meeting point.

And third, he had had to find out that their company’s burglar, the one who was supposed to help him regain his Mountain and birthright, would be a pretty little lass who rather looked more like a _barmaid_ than a _burglar_.

Really, what was Gandalf thinking?

They didn’t need any distractions on this quest and what else would a female amongst their group be other than a distraction? Especially such an attractive female!

Thorin watched his idiot nephews’ pitiful attempts at flirting, shy little Ori’s flustered face whenever their hostess happened to come near him or even address him, Dwalin’s barely disguised appreciative looks into her direction and Bofur’s and Nori’s animated discussion about her “formidable assets”.

Well, he couldn’t begrudge them their… _behaviour_.

Thorin thought that maybe it would have been better if she had kept wearing her flimsy nightshirt and dreadful dressing gown instead of showing off her gorgeous body in a low-cut blouse, tight-fitting bodice and several layers of skirts and petticoats. She surely was a sight to behold – if it weren’t for her feet: Big and hairy, like all Hobbit feet, they appeared to be not proportional to the rest of her petite, curvy form. But he could not help to wonder what it would feel like if she pressed her sturdy heels into his bare derriere during a tumble in the sheets…

No!

He forbade himself to think about _such_ things.

And that was exactly the reason why he wasn’t keen on her joining this quest. If he at his age and with his mindset was not able to keep himself focussed on their task when she was around, how should the younger (like Fíli, Kíli and Ori) or more _pleasure_ -loving members (like Bifur, Bofur and Nori) of their company be able to?

However, the hobbit’s food was delicious, her ale strong, and despite her clearly not being prepared for hosting a party of dwarves (maybe she didn’t even know that Thorin and his company were supposed to show up at her door, it would so be like Gandalf to have simply forgotten to tell her the date or time when heir guests were due), she was hospitable enough and tried being polite.

If Thorin had met the lass under other circumstances, say circumstances that would have rather to do with _pleasure_ and not with _business_ , he would have enjoyed her company, not only for her looks but also for her wits: The way she studied the contract carefully, considering the conditions, showed that she was not only pretty but also pretty clever. And since Gandalf had advertised a hobbit as their burglar because Yavanna’s children seemed to be cunning, caring and light on their feet, maybe he should give the lass a chance.

But then, after Bofur’s clumsy attempt to persuade her that she should not be worried what a dragon could do to her she simply fainted, causing half of Thorin’s company to fight for the right to pick her up and place her in her armchair. Of course, it was Dwalin who had this privilege due to his physics and position in Thorin’s company, and if Thorin didn’t know that his oldest and best friend, his brother-in-arms and distant cousin, was involved with Thorin’s little sister, he would have been jealous… Dís and Dwalin’s love was _epic_ (Ori had already started to compose _ballads_ about it) and Thorin couldn’t imagine that his _Markhel_ would risk what he had with Dís for some short-lived affair...

Yet all of Thorin’s thoughts and worries were for naught when Miss Baggins refused to sign the contract. Thorin couldn’t help but feel disappointed and relieved at the same time.

Relieved because her pretty face and perfect body would not pose the threat of distraction from their quest and disappointed for exactly the same reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Markhel – shield of all shields


	3. Bofur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their little burglar seemed to like Bofur best so that she always sought his proximity...

Bofur couldn’t help but smile.

Apparently, their little burglar seemed to like him best so that she always sought his proximity.

Maybe it was because he was _kind_ to her and able to make her _laugh_.

Of course, Bofur wasn’t stupid, he knew that he was not the only one who took an interest in Bilbo, yet he seemed to be better equipped to win her over than grumpy Thorin, intimidating Dwalin, cunning Nori, timid Ori or boisterous Fíli and Kíli.

More often than not, she rode next to him, not really liking to be on a pony’s back but laughing about his jokes anyway, sitting beside him during meals to chat, or placing her bedroll next to his when they made camp at night.

Bofur could see that Thorin didn’t like it.

Well, that was _his_ problem.

Bofur had signed a contract, offering his services to Thorin, to reclaim Erebor, nothing more, nothing less, like any other member of the company, even their burglar. And Bofur was really glad that she had eventually changed her mind about joining their company, running after them, waving the contract with her signature like a flag.

So, if one or the other member found love – or companionship – on the quest, it was their business, not Thorin’s, as long as they fulfilled their tasks.

And Bofur liked their little burglar who was completely different from the dwarrowdams or daughters of men he knew.

She was pretty and petite, fussy and sassy, clever and kind and Bofur could imagine that they would become more than just friends over the course of their journey.

He enjoyed listening to her stories about her childhood, about her relatives and life in the Shire. In turn, he told her about his life in the Blue Mountains, his life as a miner, tinker and toymaker, about his little nieces and nephews, his brother Bombur’s bairns.

He noticed that Bilbo seemed to like children and thought it sad that such a warm-hearted, caring woman didn’t have her own little family, and said as much while they sat down together for a short midday rest and a snack of dried meat, hard bread and strong ale.

“Well, Mr Bofur, in order to start a family, I would need a husband, and in my tweens and early thirties I was too busy running about the Shire with my mother, going on adventures, while all the other lasses were looking out for potential husbands. And then, one day, I was too old for the young lads to consider me a possible bride and all the males my age were already married. So, I became a confirmed bachelorette,” she explained with a melancholic smile before taking a big swig of ale.

Bofur couldn’t believe his ears. He thought that all the lads in the Shire must be standing in line to get Bilbo’s attention and that she probably just joined the quest because she wanted to escape unwanted suitors or ex-lovers since she was not interested in a serious relationship or marriage.

By Mahal, half of Thorin’s company was already eager to get under her skirts, their majestic leader and even already taken Dwalin among them. What was wrong with those hobbits?

“Well, lass, I can assure you that you are definitely more popular in our group,” he replied, grinning and winking at her while taking a hearty bite of dried meat.

Bilbo seemed to be confused. “Excuse me?”, she asked, her food totally forgotten.

Bofur shrugged. “In case you didn’t notice, a few of the lads have cast a covetous eye on you,” he explained to her, chewing.

Bilbo’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”, she wanted to know.

Bofur swallowed his mouthful of dried meat. “It means that they want to get to now you _intimately_ ,” he responded, adjusting his head to overcome the following, awkward silence.

Bilbo’s cheeks grew red and she lowered her gaze for a moment before turning her pretty face to him, asking, “You too?”

Bofur didn’t know if it was best to be honest with her or to use a white lie in order to not scare her away. He really enjoyed her company and their friendship and didn’t want to make things awkward between them in case Bilbo didn’t reciprocate his feelings, or even risk her avoiding his proximity completely.

After several seconds of consideration, he decided to be honest because that was his nature.

“Yes.”

Bilbo nodded slowly, while studying him with her hazel eyes, clearly thinking about his answer.

Then she suddenly smiled warmly at him before placing one of her tiny and soft hands over his.

“Good!”, she simply said before getting up and walking over to her pony to stow away the remainder of her midday snack, leaving a befuddled Bofur behind.


	4. Nori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nori was pissed."

Nori was pissed.

Honestly, one could expect that their lady-burglar would be more interested in him, a professional thief and prosperous spy, than in Bofur – a Jack of all trades, master of none. Why else would Bofur have tried his luck as a miner, tinker _and_ toymaker? Usually, a dwarrow chose his craft at a very young age and perfected it. Yet Bofur changed his jobs on a whim, which, of course, suited his careless and joyful nature – something Nori has always liked about his pal. And normally Nori also liked the fact that Bofur was a real ladykiller but not right now when Bofrur tried his charms on the hobbit. And he was successful!

Nori hadn’t been able to speak more than a few words with the pretty, little lass since she had changed her mind and joined their group because Bofur was (atypically for him) hogging her all to himself.

Nori and Bofur were best mates and well-known for their sharing of ale, booze, pipeweed and women.

However, with regard to the hobbit-lass, Bofur suddenly seemed to be unwilling to share.

Nori remembered well enough the night they had all gathered in her cozy home in the Shire, drinking her ale, eating her food, reveling in their reunion and her hospitality.

Of course, Nori also was a ladies’ man, meaning that he had immediately noticed the hobbit’s cute face and gorgeous body and engaged Bofur in an animated conversation about her beauty and what they both would like to do to her.

And now Bofur had apparently changed his mind, wanting the lass to himself.

Always close to her, looking out for her, _caring_ for her, it seemed as if he was actually _courting_ her and not looking for a quick tumble in the sheets – which was also atypical for him.

Maybe Bofur _really_ liked the lass.

But maybe he was just playing along due to her understanding of propriety and rather prudish behaviour, meaning that Bofur _pretended_ to court her in order to get beneath her skirts.

Who knew.

But that was no excuse for Bofur to exclude Nori.

If they were really best mates, Bofur should have let Nori in on his intentions. It would have only been fair, especially when it was all about antagonizing their grumpy leader and his beefy shield-brother who also seemed to show an interest in their lady-burglar.

As far as Nori knew, Dwalin was the lover of Thorin’s little sister Dís, meaning that he surely wouldn’t act upon his fleshly urges concerning the hobbit since nobody would want to piss off a dwarrowdam. If Dwalin were to cheat on their princess, she would most certainly cut off his balls and feed them to him for dinner.

And Thorin was a completely different case. Their noble leader was totally dedicated to his cause: Reclaiming his home, the Lonely Mountain, and taking revenge on the dragon that had afflicted the line of Durin with so much tragedy and misery.

Thorin had never been interested in any female, no matter how hard some dwarrowdams tried to get into his pants since he was a descendant of the direct line of Durin and of royal blood.

So, Nori was sure that despite Thorin’s and Dwalin’s obvious attraction to the pretty, little lass, they would never act upon their feelings.

So why was _Bofur_ behaving the way he did?

Well, sooner or later Nori would find out, not only because he wanted to get a chance with the cute burglar, but also because he was disappointed in his so-called best mate.

Nori was fairly certain that Bofur had not yet done the nasty with Bilbo – he could tell from the way they acted around each other – but when his mate got the prim and proper lass into his bedroll, Nori wanted to take part.

Together they could surely think of a few ways to drive the propriety and primness out of her...


	5. Bilbo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bilbo had the feeling that Fíli and Kíli had only stopped teasing her due to the incident with the trolls."

Bilbo had the feeling that Fíli and Kíli had only stopped teasing her due to the incident with the trolls.

Apparently, the brothers still felt guilty for sending her unarmed and unprepared into a troll camp to look for the missing ponies that got lost during their watch.

Maybe it was because they got a good telling-off by Thorin and Dwalin afterwards, although Bilbo was sure that their leader’s ire was also directed at her for it was her fault that the company had gotten captured and almost become troll dinner.

Of course, Thorin didn’t acknowledge her cleverness to stall for time so that the daylight could turn the monsters into stone.

Bilbo didn’t know why, but it really hurt that Thorin didn’t seem to accept her, well almost acted as if he wished she was not a part of his company.

For some reason, she _craved_ his approval.

More than anything else, Bilbo wanted Thorin to _like_ her.

But he obviously didn’t.

However, his nephews, Fíli and Kíli, did.

Right from the start, she had gotten the impression that they tried flirting with her, clumsily, yes, but they tried.

And since they had stopped teasing her, she was able to notice that they were really young, cute and missing their mother.

Bilbo knew, in years, they were older than her but since dwarves aged differently from hobbits and she was considered  _middle-aged_ in the Shire (or an  _old spinster_ , depending on whom you asked) she came to the conclusion that they were the equivalent of a young hobbit that had just reached majority, so she could overlook their  ridiculous  antics.

Bofur, however, was a completely different matter.

Bilbo really liked the carefree yet caring, joyous yet honest dwarf, who was rough around the edges but hard-working.  And she knew that he liked her.  _Really_ liked her. 

However, Bilbo didn’t know if she was ready for a serious relationship.

Of course, she enjoyed his company and attention, but since the debacle with Rollo Bracegirdle, her _almost fiancée,_ a couple of years ago, she had become _cautious_.

And especially since Bofur’s revelation that half of the dwarves in this company were _sexually_ attracted to her, Bilbo was sceptical.

She had hoped to escape the chains of her society when going on this adventure, had hoped that among dwarves her gender, the fact that she was an unmarried female at her age, didn’t matter, that she could prove herself.

But apparently, the dwarves of her company only saw her as this: an _unmarried female_ , maybe looking for _romance_.

Of course, like any other hobbit-woman, she had _always_ hoped for love, had hoped that her _Mr Right_ was somewhere out there, that they would _fall in love_ , marry and start a _family_ , like all the heroines in the novels she had read.

Yet that was not how these things worked in real life, apparently.

Most of the time, in her home, Bilbo felt content but lonely.

Another reason why she had joined the quest.

Despite the fact that all of those dwarves invading her home had been getting on her nerves the evening before, she had noticed how empty her _smial_ had seemed to be after their departure the next morning.

And so she had grabbed the contract, signed it and had run through Hobbiton like a woman possessed just to catch up with those horrible, crude and ill-mannered dwarves.

Yet a part of her had already developed a soft spot for them. _All_ of them: shy Ori, boisterous Fíli and Kíli, happy-go-lucky Bofur, burly Bombur, weird Bifur, genteel Dori, rogue Nori, studious Balin, martial Dwalin, inscrutable Glóin, deaf Óin, and majestic Thorin.

She considered them friends, at least, almost _family,_ even.

And now she had to learn that half of the dwarves wanted to be in a relationship with her. Or, at least, wanted to have sex with her.

Brilliant.


	6. Ori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ori felt awkward and flattered at the same time..."

Ori felt awkward and flattered at the same time.

The pretty, young hobbit lady, who had joined their quest as their burglar, was _really_ interested in his work, his clumsy chronicles of their journey, his foolish attempts at literature, his inept drawings, his inexpert knitting.

She had even _asked_ him to draw a portrait of her and wanted to know what he was making with his knitting needles and a ball of wool.

This was completely new for Ori.

At home, in the Blue Mountains, he hadn’t been very popular among the dwarrowdams – and how could he when most of the female dwarves didn’t know what to make of his interests.

Furthermore, the number of dwarrowdams was very low, especially of dwarrowdams his age.

And Bilbo Baggins was also _exotic,_ as Nori used to say about her.

Ori didn’t really know what that meant, yet he suspected that it had something to do with her not being a dwarrowdam but a hobbitess: She _looked_ different and she _was_ different, softer, cuter, nicer – all terms Ori wouldn’t use to describe any dwarrowdam he knew. But they were true for Bilbo.

And she appealed to him. A lot. Actually, she appealed to him that much that he had already dreamed of her a couple of times since he had started drawing her portrait; he had dreamed of her tawny curls, her green eyes, her freckle-covered button nose, her luscious lips and rosy cheeks with those cute dimples.

But Bilbo also had other assets Ori couldn’t help but notice, although Dori had taught him to not think about a lady in such a fashion: Bilbo’s body was to die for and Ori would have loved to see her without the several layers of clothes she was wearing – her petticoats and skirts, blouse and bodice, jacket and scarf. Only to sign and seal her beauty in paper and pencil and in order to document her otherness in comparison to dwarrowdams, even though Ori had never seen a naked dwarrowdam in real life (only in Nori’s filthy pictures), or any naked female of other races, for that matter.

Ori blushed and had butterflies in his stomach when he thought about Miss Baggins in that fashion while watching her riding next to Bofur, throwing back her head and laughing about something the merry dwarf had said earlier.

Ori didn’t know why but suddenly he had completely different pictures of Bilbo in his head, pictures in which she was completely naked and her creamy skin had a golden sheen in the firelight while she was moving atop Ori as she was moving now, riding _him_ instead of the pony, throwing back her head not in mirth but in ecstasy…

“You okay, kid?” Nori pulled him back to reality from his completely inappropriate (and indecent) thoughts.

Ori started and almost fell off his pony. “Oh, erm, yes,” he stuttered and felt as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Are you sure, Ori?”, Dori pressed and studied him intensively. With burning cheeks Ori looked from one brother to the other and didn’t know what was worse: Nori’s knowing, gleeful gaze or Dori’s worried, caring one.

Ori’s cheeks were burning and immediately he directed his eyes back on the road ahead.

“Yes,” he answered with clenched teeth and spurred his pony on to increase its pace in order to get away from his older brothers who had flanked him on both sides so as if they had tried to protect him from the dangers of the wilderness. Perhaps they actually had. They always did. One of the reasons why Ori was so worldly innocent and inexperienced, why the first female who exchanged more than three friendly words with him threw him out of balance.

“Maybe you should take off your overcoat, it’s quite hot today, maybe that’s the reason why your face is so red, we don’t want you to get a heat stroke, do we,” Dori called after him.

“Or maybe you should prefer a cool bath in the river!” Nori added, cackling.

Of course, his brothers’ words of advice attracted the rest of the company’s attention.

Ori ignored most of them, yet he couldn’t ignore Fíli and Kíli’s giggling and whispering when he caught up with them and hoped that they weren’t making fun of him.

That was just what he needed!

The dwarven princes were his age and his friends, they had played together as children and later studied together their numbers and their letters with Balin and combat with Dwalin.

“Hey, Ori!” they said simultaneously and immediately started giggling, Fíli in a subdued way since such behaviour was not appropriate for a future king, but Kíli more openly because he was the second-born son and would surely be spared from this responsibility.

“Hey,” he answered brusquely. He didn’t feel like talking. His daydreaming about Miss Baggins made him feel insecure. Of course, she appealed to him and he liked her, but that was no excuse to think about her in _such_ a naughty way. Bilbo would definitely stop being nice to him and would no longer allow him to draw her portrait if she knew about his fantasies.

“What’s eating _you_ , Ori?” Fíli asked cautiously.

“Nothing,” Ori answered curtly.

Melodic, female laughter sounded in front of them and all three young dwarves looked into this direction; apparently, Bofur had said something very funny, so that Bilbo laughingly shook her head and gently slapped the hatted dwarf’s shoulder.

Ori frowned.

If there was actually something blossoming between Bofur and Bilbo, Ori's thoughts were especially inappropriate.

“I think it’s unfair that Uncle told us to leave Bilbo alone while Bofur is constantly all over her,” Kíli just complained, pouting.

“Well, Bofur didn’t endanger her life and sent her head-on into a troll camp,” Ori blurted out. He quickly studied his friends in order to find out whether they were offended by his statement.

This didn’t seem to be the case; Fíli and Kíli seemed to be rather embarrassed than angry.

“It wasn’t our intention to lead her into peril,” Kíli explained meekly.

“Exactly! She is so tiny and light-footed, so we thought that she could steal our ponies back from the trolls without their noticing,” Fíli added.

“And we immediately got help and saved her when we noticed that she was in trouble,” Kíli completed.

Ori fell silent. The incident with the trolls still made him shudder. They had almost all ended up as troll-food!

But fortunately, Miss Baggins saved them all, together with Gandalf, thanks to her cleverness because she was so much more than just a pretty face and a gorgeous body.

From now on Ori would try to think more of her brilliant brains than her physical assets in order to respect her the way she deserved.

His mood lightened up.


End file.
